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LIFE OF COLONEL MACERONI.
positions at Albano, Castel Gandolfo, and Rocca di Papa .Murat, with only five hundred cavalry, made short workwith these forces of the imbecile priest. Enticing them fromamongst the rocks, he killed or made them prisoners—almost to a man.
The French expedition to Egypt sailed from Toulon , con-sisting of thirteen sail of the line, fourteen frigates, and fourhundred transports, having on hoard forty thousand soldiers,commanded by Buonaparte , under whom were Berthier,Caffarelli, Kleber, Desaix , Regnier, Bon, Dugna, Menou,Vaubois, Dumuy, Dumas, Lannes , Murat, Lanuse, Verdier,Vial, Rampon, Mireur, Davoust, and the Pole Zayouscheck.I give these names because my readers will see many of themre-appear in the future transactions I shall have to describe
The French fleet cast anchor before Malta, and Buona-parte dispatched Murat on shore to summon the GrandMaster of the Knights of St. John to deliver up the place.At first the summons was, as it ought to be, treated withcontempt, but a body of five thousand French beinglanded, and Murat making dispositions to attack, thesedegenerate and wretched knights surrendered their im-pregnable island, without firing a shot!
The French army, after taking possession of Alexandria,marched forwards to Cairo , and here the patience ofMurat became somewhat at fault. The dreary sandy deserts,and the nature of the campaign, so gloomy and different,to any thing he had seen in Europe , affected his spirits inan extraordinary degree. This effect of external objectsupon Murat and others is well described by Buonaparte himself in a letter addressed to Josephine , of which thefollowing is a genuine extract. “ It would be difficult forme to express,” says Napoleon , “ the uneasiness, the dis-content, the melancholy, the desperation of the army duringits first operations in Egypt . The most valorous Generals,